Background
In Part I, I covered the basics regarding the
new-for-2009 Firstgear TPG Tundra and Glacier gloves,
both of which are designed with minimal insulation in
the palms for use with heated grips.

To recap, we've been very impressed recently by
improvements in Firstgear clothing, and we think the
quality levels have been ratcheted up several notches
compared to Firstgear clothing of several years ago.

Firstgear Tundra Gloves
The Tundra gloves are mostly textile and they're bulkier
and roomier than the Glacier gloves. I'm guessing
that the Tundra gloves were designed for harsher
conditions than the leather Glacier gloves, but I find
these to be paradoxically not as warm as the Glaciers.

The Tundras follow the same insulation strategy as the
Glaciers, with minimal insulation in the palm to allow
heated grips to transfer more heat to the rider's hands.
This definitely works when compared to most or all of
the other heavily insulated winter gloves I've tried.

The idea is to keep the backs of the hands warm and
protected from the wind, while minimizing the amount of
insulation in the palm to allow the heated grips to do
their job.

The design of the Tundra gloves is similar to that
used for snowmobile gloves. Several of
the glove manufacturers have one like this in their
lineup and the key characteristic is usually the large
gauntlets with built-in shock cord. One
thing's for sure about the Tundras -- I have no complaints about the size of
these gauntlets -- they're big!

I find that the gauntlets on this type of glove can
be difficult to get snug once the gloves are on the
hands. These have a chunk of plastic on the
gauntlet
that -- if you're brave and have younger enamel than me
-- you can grab with your teeth to pull tight.

Substituting textile for about half of the leather
(the palms are goatskin leather) drops the price by
$10.00 compared to the Glacier gloves, but also gets you
Thermolite insulation in the backs of the gloves and the
same type of Hipora waterproof insert.

These also passed the bucket test (a volunteer wears the gloves while holding his or her
hands in a bucket of water until the gloves leak or the
victim screams for mercy). But when I repeated the
test in my pail of ice water to compare the Glacier
gloves with these, I could feel my fingers
getting cold in the Tundras after about a minute or so.

As I reported in Part I, this may have something to do
with the difference in the textile vs. leather. I
notice that when the Tundra gloves get wet, they really
soak up a lot of water. When I hang them up to
dry, they drip a lot of water compared to the Glacier
gloves, so I bet the textile absorbs more water and
brings the colder water closer to the Hipora insert,
which blocks the moisture but not the temperature.

On the road, there's not much difference that I can
tell in terms of warmth between the two, although the temperatures have
moderated here somewhat so we're talking 4.5 C, mid-40's
F weather, making it more difficult to truly evaluate
hard-core winter gloves.

The Tundra gloves also have goat leather palms and
the same type of hard hockey-puck protector on the heel
of the hand.

The construction is well executed with similar
attention to detail as the Glacier gloves. The
textile doesn't quite have the same fit-to-form as the
all-leather Glacier gloves though, and these start out
feeling about 1/2 size large and feel like they gain
another 1/2 size when my hands are wrapped around the
grips.

The same care has been taken also in the design of
the wrist strap. When these gloves are tightened
up, there's enough loop for the hooks to catch without
that fussy extra length of strap hanging off the side of
the glove.

The other manufacturers that have this
problem -- and there are too many -- apparently never
even wear the gloves after they design them, so they
don't realize this can be an issue.

The Tundra gloves also feature sections of highly
reflective piping along the top, as you can see in the
photo above.

Conclusion
Some riders will prefer this type of heavier textile
waterproof glove and it's good to see two choices that
feature minimal insulation in the palms for use with
heated grips. I'm a leather guy and I find the
Glacier gloves to be more comfortable for me with a
better fit and they actually feel warmer, so I'd spring
the extra 10 bucks for them.

I'll repeat what I said in my
Glacier gloves
review: The minimal insulation in the palms
transfers heat better than most heavily insulated winter
gloves, but realize that the Tundra gloves may not have
as much overall insulation as some of the gloves we
reviewed in our 9-part series, so the backs of your
hands may feel the difference. But for those
motorcyclists who have been waiting for winter
motorcycle gloves that are designed to work with heated
grips, your wait is over!

Also, riders with larger or thicker hands may find that
the Tundra gloves are a better fit than the Glaciers.